Sister Marilyn Wegener, SDS
will celebrate her 60th Jubilee

Harvest of Service—Other Will Follow is the 2008 theme of the Sisters of the Divine Savior Jubilarians. On Saturday, June 28th, an 11 a.m. Mass was offered at Mother of Good Counsel Parish, followed by a reception for family and friends at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sister Marilyn Wegener, SDS,  celebrated her 60th Jubilee of religious profession as a Sister of the Divine Savior (SDS). Sister Marilyn has been described as “thoughtful, hard-working and always ready to help anyone in need.”

She was born to Rose (Rosing) and Henry Wegener on a dairy farm near Volo, Illinois. Her parents had seven children and were farmers in Northern, Illinois. Sister Marilyn recalls learning important life lessons of sharing and hard work during her childhood. Vowed life as a woman religious was a family tradition for her family. Three of her mother’s sisters were Salvatorian Sisters. Sister Marilyn would visit her aunts in Milwaukee and met other Salvatorian Sisters. The Salvatorian Sisters also taught at St. Peter's School in Volo where Sister Marilyn was a student. She is currently living with some of  the Sisters who were her teachers at St. Peter's.

She lives at the Salvatorian Sisters Residence, Milwaukee, and is a volunteer at the adjacent St. Anne’s Salvatorian Campus where she helps in the laundry and visits residents. Along with other retired Sisters, she shares an active ministry with the SDS Apostleship of Prayer.

Sister Marilyn recalls with gratitude each of her ministries. She graduated from Alverno College with an education degree and was an elementary teacher for thirty-eight years in Wisconsin, including Mother of Good Counsel and St. Pius X schools, both in Milwaukee; St. Therese, Schofield; Holy Name in Wausau; Blessed Tekakwitha Orphanage in Sisseton, South Dakota; and St. John de Nepomuc in Tucson, Arizona. With the latter, she was also a healthcare provider for her Dad. When she returned to Milwaukee, she was a co-coordinator for retired Sisters at Salvatorian Heights. She also ministered to older adults in their homes. With the latter, she would take older adults shopping, for medical appointments and assisted with housekeeping. For many years, Sister Marilyn taught English as a Second Language (ESL) tutor for the Milwaukee Achiever Program.

In her ministries and in Salvatorian community, she is a friend one can always count on.